Chaining, pronoun reference, synonym variation and connectors - what makes a set of correct sentences read as one text.
I can write a paragraph whose sentences hold together by chaining, reference and connectors.
Подивіться на ці приклади. Чи можете ви помітити граматичну закономірність?
Мы прыехалі ў Нясвіж. Гэты горад вядомы сваім замкам.
We arrived in Niasviz. The town is known for its castle.
Апрача таго, туды ходзіць прамы аўтобус.
Besides, there is a direct bus there.
З другога боку, білеты недзяшовыя.
On the other hand, the tickets are not cheap.
Сонца ўжо садзілася. Мы паставілі намёт і распалілі вогнішча.
The sun was already setting. We put up the tent and lit a fire.
Зверніть увагу на виділені частини. Що у них спільного?
The information-structure rule works across sentences as well as inside them: end one sentence with new information and begin the next from it. Do that consistently and the text pulls itself along:
Мы прыехалі ў Нясвіж. Гэты горад вядомы сваім замкам. Замак будавалі Радзівілы...
| Means | Example | Caution |
|---|---|---|
| Pronoun | ён, яна, яно, яны | ambiguous when two nouns share a gender |
| Demonstrative + noun | гэты горад, тая размова | the safest |
| Synonym | замак → будынак → рэзідэнцыя | must not shift the meaning |
| Repetition | замак → замак | plain, and fine in factual prose |
The demonstrative plus noun is worth deliberate practice: it is the device that lets you write long paragraphs without the reader losing track, and learners under-use it.
Aspect holds a narrative together: imperfectives carry the background, perfectives carry the events. Switching without reason makes a text feel jumpy even when every sentence is correct. This is the cohesion device learners notice last and readers notice first.
A Belarusian paragraph does what an English one does - one idea, developed - but formal Belarusian tolerates longer paragraphs and longer sentences than modern English does. Writing English-length paragraphs in a formal Belarusian text reads as clipped.
Read your text and ask, at each sentence boundary, what links this one to the last. If the answer is nothing four times running, the text is a list rather than an argument.
Застосуйте цю граматику у вправах курсу C1
Вправи для практикиTypical errors: relying on pronouns where two nouns share a gender, and switching aspect without reason.
Using a pronoun where two nouns share a gender
Use гэты plus the noun.
Switching aspect without reason
Imperfective for background, perfective for events.
Writing sentences with nothing linking them
Ask at each boundary what the link is.
Using Russian connectors
Апрача таго, з другога боку, такім чынам.
Мы прыехалі ў Нясвіж. Гэты горад вядомы сваім замкам.
We arrived in Niasviz. The town is known for its castle.
Chaining plus a demonstrative and noun - unambiguous.
Апрача таго, туды ходзіць прамы аўтобус.
Besides, there is a direct bus there.
An adding connector opening the sentence.
З другога боку, білеты недзяшовыя.
On the other hand, the tickets are not cheap.
A contrasting connector.
Сонца ўжо садзілася. Мы паставілі намёт і распалілі вогнішча.
The sun was already setting. We put up the tent and lit a fire.
Imperfective for the background, perfectives for the events.
Такім чынам, паездка была вартая таго.
So the trip was worth it.
A concluding connector closing the paragraph.
Практикувати в курсі
Застосуйте цю граматику у вправах курсу C1